Island Bronze-naped Pigeon

The Malherbetaube (Columba malherbii ) is a pigeon of the genus field pigeons (Columba ). It occurs on the islands of São Tomé, Príncipe and Annobón in the Gulf of Guinea.

Features

The Malherbetaube reached a size of 28 cm. It resembles the West African splendor crowned Pigeon (Columba iriditorques ), but the rear neck and the upper mantle are more shimmering green or pink to slate gray background, as coppery - bronze color as the gloss dove head. The scapulars, the wing-coverts and the area from the mantle to the upper tail-coverts are black with a greenish tinge. Throat, breast and belly are gray. Rump and under tail-coverts are reddish brown with gray mottling. The tail are dark gray. The outer feathers are particularly washed out ocher on the inner webs. The tail underside is pale ocher gray. The iris is light gray, the beak is gray with a bright top. The legs are red. The female resembles the male, but the underside is dark gray and the feathers of the chest and the upper abdomen has a fine ocher mottling on. Lower abdomen, under tail-coverts and rump are bright reddish brown with gray mottling. In juvenile birds the iridescence on the back of the neck is less extensive. The forehead is light gray, the front top of the head light reddish brown and the top is covered with numerous ocher or reddish brown spots.

Habitat

On Annobón the Malherbetaube inhabited deep forests at altitudes of 400 to 500 m, on São Tomé and Príncipe, it occurs in forests and plantations.

Way of life

The Malherbetaube goes in the middle levels of the trees 3 to 16 m above the ground in search of food. You can watch them individually or observed in flocks of up to seven birds. The nest is a substantial platform and is 5 to 12 m above the ground built in coral trees in secondary forests or in cocoa tree plantations. The breeding season is from November to February.

Inventory and risk

BirdLife International has set the Malherbetaube on the early warning list ( near threatened ). Around 1902 it was very common to Annobón. Since 1959, a fall is there, however, be reported. On the other hand Príncipe she was moderately frequent in 1917, while today it has widespread in the lower altitudes. On São Tomé, it is often to moderately frequent in the low to medium altitudes. The main hazard is due to hunting, which is popular and widely disseminated on the islands in the Gulf of Guinea. In addition, adult birds and fledglings are taken from the wild and sold in the pet trade during the breeding season.

Etymology and History of Research

The brothers described the Malherbetaube under the currently valid basionym Columba malherbii. In your analysis, they compared the dove with the bronze neck pigeon ( Columba delegorguei ) Delegorgue, 1847. The specific epithet honors the French naturalist Alfred Malherbe ( 1804-1866 ) from Metz. The word Columba is the Latin word for " dove ".